Zoom Zoom

Mine arrived today too!

I'd use a fresh silver Sharpie to pick out the raised ribs and call it a day.

It's most likely your local Hobbytown thing (I don't really like the chain at all, we have the largest one in the country and some of their empty paint slots and complete lack of others, yet every Gundam paint known to mankind are all well-stocked tell me they don't really care about model car guys, having a bunch of kits isn't much good if you don't have the right stuff to go with them) than an actual price we can find it elsewhere. That's easily double what I see it selling for by model show vendors or some online sources. It's good stuff.

Tamiya pearl white is very translucent. Tamiya White Base in a (small) rattle can is amazing, it covers much better than their fine white rattle can primer. It would be perfect under pearl white. It dries to a nice, semigloss/satin finish. So smooth too. It allows painting a variety of molded plastic colors to all have the same base color of white so you don't have variations in color, especially on a body. Bubbles are from spraying too close to the model. I learned this the hard way years ago. Pull back a bit, and resist trying to flood the model too quickly for gloss. Tamiya rattle cans are best used in several steps of fine mist coats allowed to dry a few minute between coats, only applying wetter coats near the end. It self-levels quite nicely, when you hit the sweet spot the paint is very, very smooth. Takes a bit of practice, but worth it.

I recently spoke with Tim Kidwell about the issue, since I'm not doing magazine articles anymore I've only been using my iPhone for model photography. The #1 issue w/most builders is getting up too close to the subject, distorting the perspective and depth of field. Stand further away and shoot the model then use the phone's editing features to zoom in/crop the background. The overall shot will not have as much distortion. While my phone's editing is decent, my MacBook's built in editor is far superior at editing after I've taken the photos. Good lighting from the start helps. The better/newer the phone is also helps.

The new-tool '68's are wider in front than the vintage kits and Revell's kits, some heavy lifting will be required. I was also comparing the new tool El Caminos with my extra '68 GTO and again the extra width of the Mueller-era Elky was going to make that conversion more complicated than expected. At some point IIRC (around 2016) AMT/Round2 fixed the B pillar sink mark issue that plagued the earlier runs when they also added back the vintage Soap Box Derby racer.

Looks ready to dominate the next RADwood event 😎 Great color choices. I built this one back when it was a new kit, stupidly traded it off to a friend but kept the stock version I'd built. I keep scouring vendor tables for the same kind of "closet cleaning" deal you got for yours. Tamiya has been recently reissuing some of their oldies (Mugen CRX w/updated decals, Alfa GTV, R5 Turbo, about to reissue Honda City Turbo), so maybe they'll bring this one back out.

Round2 has done a couple modern subjects, the Charger and the Bronco. I'm seeing lots of videos of the new '25 Charger that'll be either an EV or internal combustion (new inline six). Seeing it outdoors in natural light, seeing the size/proportions of the car, I'd love to see Round2 continue w/the Charger, it's like they're fixing the issue of the 2005 Chargers, emphasizing the coupe first, which actually looks like a Charger. FWIW, there will be 4 doors as well, sharing the same roofline and rear hatch (yes, they're hatchbacks). The profile is vintage Charger. There may likely be police versions. Round2 would be wise to at least get the 3D files for all. Also Mustang GTD & Dark Horse. They could do well doing the outgoing high-end Challengers. Cloning the '69 Grand Prix with eyes towards '69/'70, '71/'72 and the crazy Superfly/Sweathogs version. Clone the '66 Skylark. Clone/improve the '65 Corvair convertible/coupe and separate the front bumper from the headlight bezels.

Tamiya rattle cans will do this, sometimes worse, if you shoot too close to the surface in too wet of a coat. Those tiny pinholes are likely trapped solvent bubbles that appeared after sanding.

To add to this, the tape impression is due most likely to having trapped solvents that have not fully dried out, especially if a quality masking tape was used, and hardware store tapes meant for home improvement work don't count, there are far better masking tapes out there for your models, like Tamiya's or yellow Frogtape for delicate surfaces which can be bought from big box stores like Home Depot. Thinking one will save a few bucks by using cheaper masking materials isn't worth it if you have to strip/repaint, often repeatedly, the same can be said for the paints themselves. I see builders all the time comment about tape residue when the fact is there was no residue left behind, but impressions of the tape's texture from uncured paint that was masked. I learned this on my own the hard way, now it never happens anymore, and I do a lot of masking. I also learned to not leave tape on any longer than necessary, trying to remove masking tape before the accent color itself has cured, often within 10 minutes or so after shooting the accent color. Also, don't put masked parts into a dehydrator, unmask the part before using the dehydrator. Using quality hobby lacquers is cost-effective due to quick drying/curing times, so there's less chance of masked areas getting damaged from uncured solvents below the surface. Patience is key, let stuff dry the appropriate amount of time before masking. Current project (ZoomOn Toyota bB OpenDeck), a lot of masking was involved, including multiple steps on the body for the main color, roof color, gloss black areas and matte black areas. It would have been a mess if I had tried brush painting the gloss & matte black areas...

That's a 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. A completely different car than a 2011 Mercedes-AMG SLS.

I was looking at it w/another builder, he commented how cool it was because it's a radical body but done tastefully with the more understated silver color. Very cool model!

When we first offered early bird passes it was intended for people to get an early crack at vendors like they used to do at the Toledo NNL's. What happened almost immediately was that builders were buying the vast majority of passes because table space gets tight very quickly. Not sure if we ever surveyed buyers of the passes if they were paying the premium for vendor access, early access to show tables, or perhaps both. Last year we moved to a larger venue, we wondered if people would pass on the early bird deal because of more table space. Nope! Even with the major move our show grew instantly to fill up the new/bigger/better venue! Good problem to have...we have a blast putting on the show and it's quite rewarding to see how everyone has so much fun for the weekend.

You might try Atlantis, we were able to get a bunch of bagged 1/32 drag racers, not sure if they are still available. You'll get nothing from Revell or Round2 these days. ACME has done some huge make & take events at our local Savoy Auto Museum over the past year, hundreds of kids and models. We will likely have to cut back as the manufacturers have proven to be completely disinterested in these programs; even if you could get kits at wholesale prices they are not cheap. Maybe you can try to convince an online retailer to sell at a bigger discount for a bulk order.

Saturday January 4th. It will be the final NNL West. Sadly it's too close to other holiday travel for me, I've only been once and it was a fantastic show. NNL West 2025